Day 3: Visit to the Kibera Slums, Nairobi
Today we visited a school located in the slums of Nairobi. Kibera, as the slums are called, is a community with its own police station and more than 200 schools. Over 1 million people live within a 1.5 square mile radius. A large percentage of its inhabitants are children (probably more than half, as many are orphans).
Walking through Kibera is fascinating. Lively music blares from speakers hidden in little huts. Stalls offer all sorts of items for sale. Clothes and plastic sandals, fruits and vegetables and tasty little snacks (fried potatoes and sugarcane) can be purchased within the walls of these slums. Chickens, cats and dogs roam freely. It is chaotic, but Kibera is vibrant and in a strange way is welcoming to its visitors.
It had rained heavily the night before our visit. The path was muddy and slippery. It was quite a challenge to walk around. Flying toilet bags (the name says it all) were scattered everywhere. Corrugated tin roofs were our only support. Luckily, none of us slipped or fell in that muddy mess. Four armed guards escorted us wherever we ventured.
After a visit to an HIV/AIDS Center, we made our way to Stara Resource Center and School. Stara has over 530 students, and 53 percent of them are females. 70 percent of the children are orphans, 15 percent have only one parent and the remainder are neglected. Nearly 330 of the children have been screened, and 10 percent of them have tested positive for HIV/AIDS. The school has 13 teachers and two social workers.
The Center started in 1998 as a woman's cooperative and started with six children looking for food. In 2004, the World Food Program implemented its school meals program and enrollment rocketed from 200 to its current number. By providing a meal for children (consisting of maize and pulses cooked in palm oil), attendance and school performance increased significantly. Many of these children have no other source of food and the school meal is the only thing they will eat all day. As you can imagine, food is a strong incentive for the children to attend school.
The Center tries to involve parents, particularly the mothers. They are encouraged to make crafts (such as beaded necklaces) and sell them to visitors. All proceeds are invested back into the school.
Staff from the World Food Program (which provides the food) and Feed the Children (which implements the school meals program) monitors the distribution of food and conducts monthly inspections to ensure that standards are being met.
The benefits of the school meals program are evident. Children attend the school so they can eat. With a full belly, they can concentrate better on their schoolwork. By staying in school, the children stay off the streets and out of trouble.
It’s hard for us back home to fully understand how important the school meals program is to the school and to these children. Visiting Stara School has allowed me to witness it firsthand. I only wish more people could see it as well. Only then would they realize how truly blessed we are because we don't have to worry about our next meal.
After this trip, I won't complain about my weight again! I consider myself lucky to have that extra meat on my bones.
-Alexa
